SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Shreveport police have identified the woman accused of throwing two of her children from the Cross Lake Bridge Friday morning, killing one and seriously injuring the other.
According to SPD, 32-year-old Ureka Black is charged with one count each of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. No bond was set. Black was taken into custody at a rest area in Waskom, Texas early Friday afternoon and is awaiting extradition back to Caddo Parish.
Police say the body of a male infant was recovered from the lake by Shreveport police marine patrol officers after someone reported seeing a child floating near the Cross Lake bridge just before 11 a.m. A marine patrol then found and rescued a five-year-old in the water. That child was taken to LSU Oschner Health Shreveport. He is expected to survive. Police say he was able to tell investigators pieces of information that eventually proved crucial in identifying Black.
That information led to a multi-agency effort to find Black, linking her to a gray Dodge Caravan with a Texas license plate. The vehicle was spotted by a Waskom police officer, which led to her arrest.
Drone video courtesy of Seth Winterer showed the scene late Friday morning along the shore of Cross Lake Friday after one of the children was pulled from the water.
The search for a possible third child ended early Friday afternoon when authorities found the child in another location, unharmed.
As of late Friday afternoon, police were still working to determine which bridge the children were thrown from, whether it was the Cross Lake Bridge or the low bridge at South Lakeshore.
Police are asking anyone who may have seen the gray van or “anything out of order” to contact their detectives at 318-673-6955 or Crime Stoppers, where tips are always anonymous, at 318-673-7373.
“This is a tragedy and we ask for prayers for the children and their family,” SPD Sgt. Angie Wilhite said. “Pray for our law enforcement officers that have been out here all day, all morning working on this. Our firefighters, Life Air, our dive teams with the Caddo sheriff’s department, and the police department. It’s been a multi-agency effort. Unfortunately, there’s no happy ending to this, but we do have the suspect in custody. Our detectives are working right now on interviews and recovering more evidence in the case.”
